


Project-SIN

by elixile



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Inception (2010)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:55:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29555976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elixile/pseuds/elixile
Summary: In a post Dirge of Cerberus world, energy conglomerates are starting to re-emerge and compete. Key figures, both old and new, are turning their focus to the use of dream-sharing in order to get an edge on their competitors.The technology for which was developed several decades earlier in the secretive Project Somnicin.Otherwise known as Project-SIN.Yet, on Gaia, dream-sharing is a risky business and it is not long before Limbo threatens an already tenous reality.But is it really Limbo or something else entirely...?[Characters and Relationships to be added to tags when they develop]
Relationships: Denzel & Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife & Marlene Wallace, Dom Cobb/Mal Cobb, Legendary Turk (FFVII)/Mallorie Miles (Inception), Rufus Shinra (FFVII)/Robert Fischer (Inception), Tifa Lockhart (FFVII)/Ariadne (Inception), Tseng/Reeve Tuesti, Yuffie Kisaragi (FFVII)/Ayumu Saito (Inception), Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife





	1. Prologue

“Uuhg…” A slash of silver arcs down in front of him, a sudden clash of metal upon metal halting the thin lethal path of Masamune. Fierce blue eyes that practically glow with the colour, flicker in surprise. He feels pressure; the heaviness of someone’s protection nestled beside that of his own, ceaseless, guilt.

A salty tang assaults his nostrils, and it smells like sweat. 

It smells of sea-water.

****

**Training’s Over**

Green digital displays topple into coding.

Grey lithic skyscrapers crash into waves.

Crimson dissipates into the rain, beating an ever diluting path through the mud.

Burgundy whips around her shapely legs, as she plummets feet first to the ground.

He wakes up, sweating and with tears upon his cheek. 

_(Do you know what it is to be a lover?)_

There is an itch at his wrist that will not go away. __

_(To be part of a whole?)_

He howls in despair. __

_(You’ll be… my living legacy…)_

_Embrace your dreams._

__

_If you want to be a Hero, you need to have dreams._


	2. A new energy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marlene reflects on the past and about present state of affairs. Ariadne has a conversation with Tifa at Seventh Heaven.

Marlene Wallace pattered down the stairs at Seventh Heaven, the most talked about bar in the whole of Edge by virtue of its landlady and residents. Thought it remained rather quiet most days. Whilst some degree of infamy kept the business going, the regular clientele and general rumours about the place kept many new people from seeking to enter. Marlene poked her head around the door frame, inhaling the sweet sharpness of fermentation overlaid with the chemical disinfectant covering the glassware as she set her lips into a determined pout. She was growing into quite the willful little lady, shaped by the many climatic events that had taken place during the short course of her thirteen years of life, as well as those who have raised her and protected her.

Even though she had been much younger back then, Marlene can still remember everything vividly. Too vividly one might say. She remembers the way a giant metal plate that obscured the sky where she used to live had come shrieking down on top of them, destroying homes and livelihoods, taking the lives thousands of innocent people right before their very eyes. She remembers being taken away from everything she had ever known by men in suits, the infamous Turks, only to be held hostage by another Shinra suit and his silly robot cat. Sure, she had met Elmyra during that time, a fiercely protective woman who could be as kind as she could be firm, but Elmyra would never be her Papa or Tifa, whom she loved and trusted with her entire full-to-bursting heart. Neither was she her daughter, Aerith, nor the mercenary, Cloud, both of whom went on to became greatly important. To herself _and_ to the entirety of the Planet. 

She remembers with a proud fondness that her Papa, Tifa, Aerith, Cloud and a motley crew of their other friends had managed to save them all. However Midgar, the only home she had ever known up until that point, had also been completely destroyed. Marlene had been staying with Elmyra in the sleepy town of Kalm when it happened. They had been ushered there by her rather strange captor. The man that is, Reeve Tuesti, for his energetic cat had already disappeared several months earlier, eventually taking his place alongside her Papa and the others in their fight against Sephiroth. Mister Reeve had come to visit on occasion, each time seeming more worried and wearied, until he had come with news of Aerith's passing. Marlene had seen all of Elmyra's considerable strength drain from her at the moment, kept standing on her own two feet only by virtue of the man holding her against his solid form. Marlene had somehow already known, for the connection she had with the flower girl was strangely significant, but she had buried herself into a dark pinstriped thigh nonetheless, feeling a large and warm palm stroke then still on the top of her head. At the start of Midgar's destruction, Marlene had watched it unfold upon a community network screen that she had snuck out to watch when Elmyra was not looking. First had come the toppling of the ShinRa Tower, blasted apart by a Weapon, one of the planet's final defences and will in a massive avatar form. Then when Meteorfall came she had not even had to watch on the screens to know what was happening. For the skies overhead ran a blood orange red across the whole continent, and it felt as if the planet itself trembled at the devastating impact.

The following events still feel like recent scars and are reflected in the ruins of Midgar on the edge of Edge, all jagged metal tissue knitted over deep, dark wounds. Geostigma, the virus caused by a reaction of the Planet to lingering cells of the alien J.E.N.O.V.A. had infected some of the people she loves and far too many others. Everything following Meteorfall had felt all too loud and busy, confused and desperate. People were scattered and this black ooze turned people against one another, fuelling bigotry against those who had been marked. Marlene had felt a surge of Aerith's presence, when, from the lifestream, the half-Cetra bought a rain to cleanse the Planet of that horrible disease. Then, just as some sense of security and order had been built, they had once more come under threat of extinction. The invasion of Deepground, secretly developed super soldiers who were headed up by a man possessed by another's consciousness, had spilled out from the ruins of her former home. It was her family, her friends, and the new proto-government structure of the World Regenesis Organisation that were the ones left to fight once again. Deepground was defeated and yet another planetary weapon, Omega, was returned to the planet. But there were still too many people that had been lost into the darkness; from Kalm, from Junon, from Edge.

Marlene made a small, ugly noise and immediately scanned the walls for news on the screens there, her body still edged mostly out of the room but one side leaning against the dark wood paneled bar. It was a habit she was getting into, watching the news feeds regularly. She convinced herself that this helped her deal with her past trauma somehow, keeping such a vigilant notice upon what could possibly come up in the future. On the networks a regular news broadcast was showing, and Marlene flickered an attentive gaze over the text, searching amidst the headlines about how the race for new energy was bringing up new names and new faces.

There was ShinRa Electric Company, of course. This was not a new name, in fact it was a name that several generations remember with a varying degrees of awe, fear and outright hatred. Shinra was responsible for plundering the planet, converting the very thing that flows through everything into marketable energy, nearly bringing about the destruction of the whole world for the sake of profit and dominance. Marlene can still remember the fire that her Papa had in his big, brown eyes before he held his meetings with fellow Avalanche members when they fought against the monopolistic energy giant. Barret Wallace was a man capable of great compassion and even forgiveness, but he would never forgive ShrinRa Electric for what they have done. Marlene could be equally stubborn when she wanted to be.

However, ShinRa Electric was no longer an obvious player in the energy market. Not since the city of Midgar and ShinRa Tower, the headquarters that dominated the city at the very epicentre had been destroyed. Not since Rufus Shinra, newly appointed President, had been presumed dead in the attack, his loyal Turks disappearing soon afterwards. Marlene can recall hearing Commissioner Tuesti talking to an old man who was marked with a scar down one cheek during that time, many moons ago now. He had said that there was a _debt of repayment to be paid_ but that it was the _immediate legacy of the ShinRa name that kept him from showing his hand._ It had confused her back then, and she was still unsure what Reeve had actually meant with his soft-hushed tones. Then rumours of the ShinRa heir surfaced like blots of black ooze, warehouses were accessed and the W.R.O. continued to build, research, defend.

ShinRa Electric Company had faded into the background whilst other corporations started to rise in order to capitilise upon the Energy markets. Though anyone who knew of ShinRa and the Turks would be foolish to think the former mega-corporation had disappeared for good. Fischer Morrow was the first company to take over former ShinRa strongholds, having extensively made their presence in Edge, from Corel on the West to Icicle in the North, standing therefore not too far away from complete and total energy dominance. However the President of Fischer Morrow, Maurice Fischer, had been in the news feeds recently, his heath having declined quite rapidly in his old age. Robert Fischer, his son and heir, alongside Peter Browning who was apparently Maurice’s most trusted employee, have been in varying attendance at Healin Lodge, the rather scenic medical centre placed just past the Edge of Edge.

Fischer Morrow’s closest competitor was Proclus Global of Wutai, the mountainous western-most continent upon Gaia. Headed up by a pure-blood Wutainese man, Ayumu Saito, Proclus Global is favoured by the Kisaragi clan, long-held leaders and royal lineage of the Wutai peoples. It is argued that old resentments die hard in Wutai and the name of ShinRa more than most, so someone such as Saito seems set to only grow even more influential. Particularly considering his upcoming marriage, Marlene mused, twiddling one of her plaits between her fingertips. She had always rather liked Yuffie Kisaragi, the White Rose of Wutai and Officer-Extraordinaire for the W.R.O. She never seemed to act much like the Princesses in the stories her Papa used to read to her, but she was nonetheless full of a fierce desire to protect her country and culture.

Finally, as an outsider, Cobol Engineering allegedly had so much power in the lands around Mideel it is said that they pretty much own the place. Other recent news had mentioned Cobol being part of some sort of scandal, but any specifics of it all were scant on the Networks. The W.R.O. ran most of the free information channels, but preferred in most cases to keep its distance from the burgeoning corporate rackets. Commissioner Tuesti had assured the public that the W.R.O. provides an unbiased perspective on the events of the Planet, yet it was a standing that seemed designed to maintain the status quo and not cause any stirrings or panic one way or the other. Marlene was not quite sure what she thought of that.

Barret was still helping Shera and Cid, working on refining the fractionation processes of crude oil, and she was happy for her Papa in a her own way. Coal was in his history after all and oil was merely the next step in the fossil fuel developments - according to Tifa it was any way. The W.R.O. were spending millions of gil on research into even newer, cleaner energies; such as hydro-electrics and wind power. On top of that, all energy corporations had to align themselves with the global strategy, accountable to the W.R.O., to ensure the Planet has the time it needed to heal. The Lifestream was no longer being plundered. Yet this new ‘Black Gold’ was issuing in the rise of powers - reminiscent to the rise of ShinRa, so the older folk say - and even though the Planet was no longer being hurt necessarily, Marlene was concerned.

Stepping around the corner of the bar, Marlene saw Tifa was stood behind the counter, running a cloth over a glass and engaged in conversation with Ariadne. Ariadne was a student at Edge University, the leading academic instituation for Urban Regeneration and Architecture considering its closeness to the W.R.O. and its leader who had helped run one city then build the next. Ariadne had been dropping by for coffee for a couple of years now. She was real pretty and smart too. Tifa seemed to like her a lot as well, they shared touches and soft words at least, although sometimes Tifa would go a little distant when speaking with Ariadne, just like she was doing now. She was saying softly, in the same calming tones she used to help Denzel get to sleep when he was sick, “Ariadne, if you keep pushing all the time, you know, you might actually hurt someone…”

Marlene scrunched up her nose, she could hardly imagine Ariadne hurting anyone at all. Not on purpose any how. Ariadne seemed a little agitated, fingers tapping against the bar top as Tifa flashed another one of her small smiles from under cascading black hair, the expression fond but a little sad looking as she added, “I don’t know this person, but sometimes people just need to come to terms with things themselves. We just have to be there for them if they ask.”

Ariadne shook her head a little at that, bouncing light waves across her shoulders. She looked like she should be laughing, mouth upturned in a quirk, but curiously she was not, “Really? So how is Cloud?” Marlene missed the look that passed between the two women then, for the question had taken up all of her focus all of a sudden. _Cloud_ \- Cloud is…

Cloud had been dreaming a lot of late. Nightmares that were difficult to wake him up from, yet when he did come to consciousness he looked upset, like he did not actually want to wake up from his dreams at all. It made no sense to Marlene. Why would he want to stay in his dream, when he thrashed and clawed at his wrists so whilst asleep? Marlene had taken to hiding her head under the pillow to stop herself from hearing him so distressed, but that only served to make her feel guilty for being such a coward. She hiccuped a little at the question then stepped further forward, placing a smile on her face, to stay positive and be the strong one. She could not be a coward, for Tifa and Denzel’s sakes, “He’s still asleep, Tifa. He’s just a lazy bones!”

The smile was kept on her features for all but a few seconds, but it was little use, Marlene was really worried for the spiky haired blonde man in the bed upstairs. It seemed so unfair that one person had to go through so much. She slumped into a stool at the bar, suddenly dejected, “Why is Cloud hurting? Is he going to leave us again?" She pouts without even meaning to, bowed lips pressing together as she inhales a shaky breath through her nose, "Why don’t you go and wake him? Ask him what the matter is?!”

Tifa actually laughed then, lilting, like she sang sometimes - _Shilly Shally,_ “You two. You are as bad as each other.”

She smiled and patted Marlene’s arm, looking over briefly to Ariadne before downcasting her gaze, “Though I suppose… I do wish I knew what he’s thinking, sometimes. What’s going on in that head of his, you know… what he’s dreaming about that seems so important…”

Ariadne spluttered into her coffee causing both Marlene and Tifa to look at her curiously. Giving a sheepishly innocent grin, she wiped her mouth and apologised. Tifa arched one elegant eyebrow, the ruby colour of her eyes suddenly becoming much more noticeable under the bar room glow.


End file.
